Au Revoir Les Vacances

This school vacation has been practically perfect in every way.  Did we go to the Alps on a ski trip?  No.  The Med?  No.   Any other exotic location.  No.  We stayed home and hung out with friends and slept late and stayed up late and went swimming and to museums and parks and rode bikes and basked in the rare Clermont sunshine and enjoyed every single second of it.

*Our community was touched by tragedy last week as the husband of a friend at Massillon was killed in a motorcycle accident.  This unfathomable event has forever changed the perspectives of many people in Clermont but most definitely the lives of his loving wife and precious daughter.  Our prayers are with them during this unthinkable time in their lives.*

A couple of days ago I took the munchkins and their friend, Tag, on a hike near our new home.  Five kilometers down the road there is a "mountain" and a nice hiking trail with beautiful views of the city and a thick forest filled with lots of fun things for the kids to discover.  Most notably, sticks!

Lovely Ladies Take Lyon

A couple of weekends ago, six brilliantly lovely (said with a beautiful British accent) ladies hopped onto a train - well, truth be told ran onto a train barely missing it by minutes - and left our children in the capable hands of our hubbies and headed to Lyon, France for 24 hours of sightseeing, laughing, eating and shopping.. give or take an episode of mistakenly talking to a total stranger and a broken suitcase times two.

Did I mention there was lots of laughing involved?

A trip to remember, for sure!

 Ohh la la..  What is behind this door?  

 I thought maybe it was one of those "faux amis".. those trouble making French words that look like an English word but actually mean something completely different.  But, no, "lingerie" means underclothes..  

You know what they say about hotels located near train stations...

 Pre-touring aperitif time!

 Where exactly are we?  Um...  Bene!!!!

Random beautifully colorful floral bouquet in the middle of a park... odd.. but definitely brightened this overcast day.

Place de la "some famous french person in history"

 We didn't eat here.. I just thought it was a pretty sign.

 Roxanna and a rooster.. .I dunno..  You gotta know Roxanna.. :)  

Photo opportunities truly are everywhere and we are so thankful for her gift of finding them and documenting our trip.

 Street Musicians

 Pretty building number 2916

 So the picture of France I had in my mind before moving here...

 Musee des Miniatures - Lyon, France

 Oh look... the hospital room and grocery store we visited.. 

Oh, wait, no.. these are miniatures!  Can you believe it?  All of these items in these rooms are about 3 inches tall.

 Street vendor selling hot crepes and an adorable cafe in the corner.

 Le Nord - 

Where we ate dinner that evening found by the lovely Bene.  

Exactly how many ladies with navigational systems on their  phones does it take to find a restaurant in Lyon?

 Bene, Claire and Roxanna - Love them!

Karen et moi - Good times!

Les GAU(turn lips to side)fres...  I couldn't eat a morsel after eating every last morsel of my risotto.  Delicious-o!

Just Because

 I think she is just precious... :)

Roses are red,

Violets are blue, 

A fleur for me,

And Emily kisses, too!

I am so in love with all of my children.  We are on vacation from school this week and enjoying every minute of it.

Belle et La Sophia

Some friends give you hugs...

Some friends give you kisses...

And some friends give you...

A GOLDFISH FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!

Our good friends, the Tuckers, surprised our Sophia with a cute little, non-pooping, invisibly peeing, no needing a midnight walk, very very low maintenance goldfish yesterday.  Such a neat-o gift!  She has since been named Belle (as in Belle et La Bete... Beauty and the Beast) ....  only after a lengthy debate as to whether "it" is a she or a he.  After deeming her a she, I continued to call her a he as to which Sophia informed me that she must be a she.. she is pretty like a girl, soft and probably has a bunch of shoes.

 

La Petite Souris

In France, it isn't the Tooth Fairy that comes to collect the precious little baby teeth... it is La Petite Souris (the little mouse).  So, two weeks ago, while sitting in the back seat of our car in the parking lot of NorAuto while Freddie purchased a bike rack for his new set of wheels, Sophia pulled out her very own tooth just a few weeks shy of her fifth birthday.  We were suspicious that it was helped out during a wrestling accident a month or so ago but, nope, a few days later we saw the first bumps of the new permanent tooth peeking out of her gums.  It is so bittersweet to see them passing these milestones into grown up hood.

Time goes on and on and on...  Oh how I wish we could slow down the clock.